New wild venison initiative a win-win

​Back in March this year, the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation was in dire straits. The Wapiti ballot was cancelled, and a lot of successful applicants weren’t happy. And understandably- I know a lot of people who have tried for years to get a block and getting one this year is only to have the ballot cancelled. Fiordland is the pinnacle of NZ hunting- it requires every bit of mental and physical toughness, bush craft, skill, and experience to be successful. However, no-one could have predicted the outbreak of COVID-19 and the consequences. The Department of Conservation effectively put a stop to the ballot. The much bigger concern however was how to manage the herd- the foundation must remove 1,000 animals from the herd each year, as part of an agreement with the government. These are animals with not desirable heads and/or Wapiti/Red hybrids.  The wild venison market had collapsed, and the foundation was told it wasn’t likely to get going again until at least 2022. Then a pandemic showed up, throwing in a lot of uncertainty. In the meantime, they had to pay for 1,000 animals to be removed from the Wapiti area, and because there was no market, left on the ground with no opportunity to even break even with costs. The cost of killing a deer is $100-130 per animal, so 1,000 animals is $100k-$130k. It’s a huge cost for the foundation to cop. The new initiative is providing game meat to foodbanks, supplying more than 18,000 families around the country. It is in partnership with the game animal council and Department of Conservation. It will benefit families in need especially in the current circumstances, as well as providing jobs to meat workers. It will also be beneficial for our image- which has been under pressure in New Zealand over recent issues. This could be rolled out in other areas where high deer numbers are a problem and are causing damage to crops or eco-systems. The current circumstances seem a perfect time to have a crack at solving issues in our own backyard. 

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